Durban - The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) is appealing to the Department of Water and Sanitation to intervene in the matter of Durban's closed and polluted beaches.
Fedhasa national chairperson, Rosemary Anderson, said if the municipality is not providing the necessary treatment and discharging of waste water, the department has the mandate to intervene.
"As, Fedhasa we urge the Department to intervene urgently to prevent further damage to the environment and businesses, leading to further job losses in a country where our unemployment rate is at crisis point," she said.
Anderson said it is disappointing that the municipality responsible for the compliant treatment and safe discharge of waste water has not abided with what they promised to do, which is to ensure that the faulty pump stations and lines would be rectified in time for KwaZulu-Natal’s tourist season.
“School holidays started on Monday and the closure of the beaches will cause direct economic damage loss to local tourism and hospitality businesses, which will result in further job losses,” Anderson said.
In August, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela, announced the closure of several beaches due to high levels of E.coli in the water.
At the time, the City also barred all water-related activities; swimming, surfing, fishing, bathing and canoeing.
Since then, eThekwini Municipality has announced the closures and openings of beaches.
In the last announcement, Mayisela said eight beaches have been opened to the public.
"A team of experts recently tested water from the beaches and results confirmed that water is now at an acceptable standard.
“Beaches that are now open for swimming are Bay of Plenty Beach, North Beach, Wedge Beach and Ushaka Beach.
In the south, Umgababa, Umkomaas, Brighton, and Treasure beaches remain open," he said.
Meanwhile, the other beaches remain closed until further notice.
"The municipality is constantly monitoring the water quality to all beaches to ensure the safety of residents and tourists," Mayisela said.
Meanwhile, DA councillor Gavin Hegter, said he has called on the municipality to make the water testing reports public.
"It is also concerning that the City does not make the findings of their testing public. Test results done recently on some of the 13 beaches by an independent, accredited laboratory were made public and they indicate that these beaches should remain closed," he said.
eThekwini mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, said the City is fast-tracking the replacement and repairs of flood-damaged infrastructure and will optimise maintenance of existing infrastructure that is currently causing pollution to the environment and rivers and oceans.
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